What can trigger a colony to create a new queen besides the queen's death?

A colony can be triggered to create a new queen when it has run out of room, as this situation often indicates that the colony is at or beyond its capacity. In beekeeping, when overcrowding occurs, the colony may perceive it as a sign that it's time to swarm or reproduce. This reproductive strategy involves raising a new queen, which is essential for ensuring the colony’s future while also allowing part of the colony to leave and establish a new colony elsewhere.

In an overcrowded hive, the worker bees may begin to construct queen cells, which are specialized cells built to rear new queens. This process is vital for the survival of the colony, as it allows for the continuation of their lineage and prevents the colony from succumbing to stress factors associated with overcrowding.

While other scenarios like an abundance of worker bees might contribute to the overall health of the colony and potentially influence its ability to raise a new queen, they are less directly related to the immediate need for new queen production when spatial constraints are evident. Similarly, issues like food scarcity might actually hinder the process of raising a new queen rather than prompt it, and the age of the queen becomes less significant in this context because typically, the colony would raise a new queen from young larvae rather